Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, 1908 – May 10, 1977) was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion picture contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925. Initially frustrated by the size and quality of her parts, Crawford launched a publicity campaign and built an image as a nationally known flapper by the end of the 1920s. By the 1930s, Crawford's fame rivaled MGM colleagues Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo. Crawford often played hardworking young women who find romance and financial success. These "rags-to-riches" stories were well received by Depression-era audiences and were popular with women. Crawford became one of Hollywood's most prominent movie stars and one of the highest paid women in the United States, but her films began losing money. By the end of the 1930s, she was labeled "box office poison".
After an absence of nearly two years from the screen, Crawford staged a comeback by starring in Mildred Pierce (1945), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. In 1955, she became involved with the Pepsi-Cola Company, through her marriage to company president Alfred Steele. After his death in 1959, Crawford was elected to fill his vacancy on the board of directors but was forcibly retired in 1973. She continued acting in film and television regularly through the 1960s, when her performances became fewer; after the release of the horror film Trog in 1970, Crawford retired from the screen. Following a public appearance in 1974, after which unflattering photographs were published, Crawford withdrew from public life. She became more and more reclusive until her death in 1977.
Filmography
Character: Blanche Hudson
Character: Mildred Pierce
Character: Joan Crawford (uncredited)
Character: Jessie Cassidy
Character: (in "Humoresque") (archive footage)
Character: Michele de la Becque
Character: Ethel Whitehead
Character: Diana 'Di' Medford
Character: Millicent Wetherby
Character: Sadie Thompson
Character: Margaret Johanna 'M.J.' Drew
Character: Betty Channing
Character: Diane Lovering
Character: Myra Hudson Blaine
Character: Marian Martin aka 'Mrs. Moreland'
Character: Mrs. Fay Cheyney
Character: Mary 'Minnie' Howard
Character: Lucretia Terry
Character: Elizabeth Austin
Character: Ivy 'Bunny' Stevens
Character: Priscilla Crowninshield
Character: Olivia Riley Linden
Character: Marcia Townsend Warren
Character: Margaret "Peggy" O'Neal
Character: Anni Pavlovitch
Character: Various Roles (archive footage)
Character: Geraldine 'Gerry' March
Character: Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Character: Valentine 'Val' Winters
Character: Della Chappell
Character: Adrienne Lecouvreur
Character: Young Lady Catherine
Character: (archive footage)
Character: (archive footage)
Character: René Contrecoeur
Character: Self (archive footage)
Character: Ivy Stevens (Archive Footage) (Uncredited)
Character: Alice "Bingo" Dowling
Character: Margaret Landi
Character: Diana 'Ann' Boyce-Smith
Character: (archive footage)
Character: Ballroom Dancer (uncredited)
Character: Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
Character: Party Guest (uncredited)
Character: Body Double for Norma Shearer
Character: Party Guest (uncredited)
Character: Mannequin (uncredited)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Character: (archive footage)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Character: (archive footage)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Character: Bobby (archive footage)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Character: Self (uncredited)
Character: Extra - Driver of Police Car (uncredited)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Character: Blanche Hudson (archive footage) (uncredited)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Character: Self / Flaemmchen (archive footage)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Character: (archive footage)
Character: (archive footage)
Character: Janie Barlow (archive footage) (uncredited)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Character: Self (archive footage / uncredited)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Character: Joan Fairchild
Character: Dr. Brockton (archive footage)